Hello dear friends. It has once again been too long since I’ve written, but I seem to be having a mental block as to what to write about of late. There are a million healthy topics out there to choose from, but nothing has really inspired me (or fired me up enough) recently to talk about it.
It is spring, though, which means our livers are in spring cleaning mode. Help it out some by loading your plate with healthy green leaves, the more bitter the better. Dandelion greens are some of my favorite. To help counter-act the bitter flavor, my favorite preparation of them is to make a salad with chopped dried fruit (I like prunes or dates myself), a sprinkling of your favorite nuts or seeds, and a dressing made of lemon juice, maple syrup (the 100% real kind, not the high fructose corn syrup maple flavored kind!), and olive oil. The sweet and sourness of the dressing and the fruit really helps balance out the bitter from the greens. This tactic can also be employed in my other favorite green this season: watercress. Watercress is more peppery than bitter, but boy is it a super-hero of the veggie world. Antioxidants abound, liver cleansing properties, and it’s super high in calcium to boot. I like preparing watercress in a salad with a few other baby greens and halved red grapes.
There are obviously other great greens out there to try this season… these just happen to be two of my favorites. You can’t not feel healthier after eating them! Hit the store, and pick up a different green every few days. Arugula, escarole, kale, spinach… If you have a variety of these greens during the week, especially paired with a reduction of sugar and starches in your diet, you WILL feel a difference! It just takes a little self-motivation to do it. Seeing as how last week was a sugar-laden week for myself actually, (if anyone else lets me see chocolate right now, I WILL slap you), I think I need to seriously start taking my own advice!
I’ve got kale in the fridge right now. I’m planning a date with my juicer this afternoon!
In other life updates, I am approaching my 34th week of pregnancy, which means anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks from now, I could have a baby in my arms. This is getting very real, very fast! I have been feeling pretty good, but I admit, last week’s chocolate melt-down has been making me feel noticeably moodier. I could say it’s from pregnancy hormones, and maybe there’s a little of that going on, but an increase in sugar consumption always makes me feel down, so I’m sure it’s definitely not helping. Physically however, I’m just feeling like I have no more room left to spare in my midsection! I’m grateful that I have none of the other major bummer symptoms of pregnancy right now (swollen feet and fingers, calf cramps, chipmunk cheeks, etc.) We’ll see what the next few weeks bring about, though. The biggest annoyance I’m dealing with is difficulty breathing, as I feel like I can never take in a full breath, and I get easily winded. I’ve put on almost 18 pounds so far, which may seem like a small amount for pregnancy up to this point, but keeping in mind that I am barely 5 feet tall, and was less than 100 lbs to begin with, so my body is certainly not used to having to keep up with a weight gain like this! All in all, it is definitely an interesting experience, especially for a person who’s job it is to study and understand the inner workings of the human body! Stay tuned as the time draws near for D-Day! And please, send me good vibes for Baby Kapoor’s easy and healthy arrival!!
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